TAKING IT TO TASK ThenewsletteroftheJALTtask-basedlanguageteachingSIG.Volume3Issue1–November2018

CONTENTS

Pg.2.Editorial/Announcement

Pg.3.Article:AnEvidence-BasedApproachtoL2TaskDesignbyShokoSasayama(UniversityofTokyo)

Pg.16.LessonPlan:AMarketResearchSurveyProjectbyNicholasMarx(KanazawaSeiryoUniversity)

Pg.23.LessonPlan:Storytelling:TappingStudentImaginationbySimonRowe(KwanseiGakuinUniversity)

SIG INFORMATION

Coordinator: JustinHarris

Treasurer: KymJolley

ProgramChair: PaulLeeming

PublicationsChair: KurtisMcDonald

MembershipChair: JohnThurman

Webmaster: AericWong

PRChair: NicholasMarx

MembersatLarge: BrentCotsworth,MarkDonnellan

Forpublicationsandconferencequeries,contactusat<tbltinasia@gmail.com>.Foreverythingelse,contactusat<tbl@jalt.org>.

www.tblsig.org

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EDITORIAL

WelcometoourfirstissueofthethirdvolumeofTakingittoTask!In2016,wedecidedtochangeourregularpublicationtoadigitalnewsletterformatwiththehopesofbeingabletoacceptagreatervarietyofsubmissions.ThisissueisalsobeingprintedasaspecialeditionfortheJALT2018nationalconference.Beyondfull-lengtharticlesandpracticallessonplans,wealsoencouragethesubmissionofopinion/thinkpieces,bookreviews,andanyTBLT-relatednews.Inthisissue,wearepleasedtoincludeanarticlefromShokoSasayama(UniversityofTokyo)andlessonplansfromNicholasMarx(KanazawaSeiryoUniversity)andSimonRowe(KwanseiGakuinUniversity).

In the article, Shoko Sasayama begins by outlining three principles of effective task design that havebeengleanedfromtheaccumulatedresearchinthisareaandfollowsthroughadetailedexampleoftheimplementationoftheseprinciplesinanEnglishcoursetaughtbytheauthor.

Inthefirstlessonplan,NicholasMarxoutlinesamulti-lessonsurveyprojectthattasksgroupsoflearnerswith developing their ownmarket research surveys and collecting data from one another as well asotherstudentsoncampus.Theprojectculminateswithslideshowpresentationsinwhichtheresultsareshared and discussedwith accompanying charts and graphs. In the second lesson plan, Simon Roweintroduces a series of adaptable writing tasks to encourage students to draw on their personalexperiences, imagination, and creativity as they try their hand at storytelling in English. Building onstudents’ knowledgeofpopular folktalesandmoviesandexpanding theirknowledgeof commonplottypesandthemes,thislessonplanissuretobringasparktoanywritingworkshoporintensivewritingprogram.

We hope that you enjoy reading this issue, and if you have a TBLT-related article, lesson plan, bookreview,oropinion/thinkpiecethatyouwouldliketosubmitforconsiderationinafutureissueofTakingittoTask,pleasecontactusat<tbltinasia@gmail.com>.

KurtisMcDonald,PublicationsChair

ANNOUNCEMENT

The8thInternationalConferenceonTask-BasedLanguageTeaching

The8thInternationalConferenceonTBLTwillbeheldatCarletonUniversityinOttawa,Canadafrom

August19-21,2019.ThisinternationalconferenceonTBLTtakesplacebiennially(onoppositeyearsto

theTBLSIG“TBLTinAsia”conference).Pastconferenceshavealwaysbeenintellectuallystimulating

withplenariesbyprominentscholarsinthefield,andpresentationsandhands-onworkshopsonvarious

cutting-edgeresearchandpractices.Ittargetsnotonlyresearchers,butalsopractitioners.Thethemeof

theconferenceis“TBLT:Insight,Instruction,Outcomes.”Formoreinformation,pleasechecktheir

websiteat<http://www.iatblt.org/conferences>.AcallforpapersisopenuntilDecember1st,2018.

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ARTICLE

AnEvidence-BasedApproachtoL2TaskDesign

ShokoSasayama–UniversityofTokyo

INTRODUCTION

Taskdesignisanintegralpartofsecondlanguage(L2)pedagogicalpractice,andthus,inL2researchmuchattentionhasbeendevotedtothisverytopic.ThemajorityofresearchonL2taskdesignhasbeenconductedfromcognitiveperspectives.Indeed,intheirmeta-analysis,Sasayama,Norris,andMalicka(2018)found240experimentalstudiesthatinvestigatedtheroleofL2taskdesigninrelationwithcognition(inadditiontomanyothernon-experimentalpublicationsonthistopic).Inthisdomainofresearch,therefore,enoughempiricalevidenceexiststotakeanevidence-basedapproachtoL2taskdesignandimprovetheeffectivenessofthetasksthatareofinterestforlanguageteachingandlearning.ThepurposeofthispaperistosummarizeafewprinciplesofeffectivetaskdesignbasedontheaccumulatedresearchevidenceandtoconsiderhowtheseprinciplescanbeappliedtotheactualdesigningofL2pedagogictasks.

PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE TASK DESIGN

InthedomainofL2taskdesign,researchershaveparticularlybeeninterestedinthenotionof“cognitivecomplexity”or“cognitiveload”ofatask,definedastotalamountandtypesofmentaleffortrequiredforperformingatask(Sweller,1988).TheyhavegenerallyfocusedonhowcognitiveloadmightinfluenceL2learners’languageproduction,interaction,andpotentiallyacquisition.Researchthusfarhasrevealedthefollowingthreeprinciplesoftaskdesigninrelationtocognitiveload.

Principle1:AnL2task’scognitiveloadcanbemanipulatedbychanginginherentdesigncharacteristics,implementationconditions,andlanguagedemands

AccordingtoRobinson(2001,2011)andSkehan(1998,2014),cognitiveloadofataskcanbemanipulatedby:(a)inherenttaskdesigncharacteristics,suchasthenumberofelementsinvolvedinataskandthedegreeofreasoningdemands;(b)implementationconditions,likeplanningtime,taskrepetition,andtheavailabilityofsupport;and(c)linguisticdemands,includinggrammaticalcomplexity,vocabularydifficulty/frequency,andsentenceortextlength.Ataskoforderingfood,forexample,becomesmoreattention-consumingwhenL2learnersarepresentedwithmoreoptionstochoosefrom,iftheyareaskedtoorderforadateandimpresshim/herwithalimitedbudget,iftheyarepressedfortime(i.e.,withnotimetoplan)becausepeopleareliningupbehindthem,orifthemenuinvolveslotsofunknownwords(likeinaFrenchrestaurant,perhaps…!).

HowabouttheeffectsofmanipulatingcognitiveloadonL2learners’taskperformances?Dowethenknowanythingaboutthem?AccordingtoMalickaandSasayama(2017),reportingontheirmeta-

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analysisstudy,simpleandcomplextaskswererevealedtohavedistincteffectsonL2learners’languageproductionintermsofsyntacticcomplexity,grammaticalaccuracy,lexicalvariety,andfluency.Availabilityofplanningtimepriortoorduringthetask(i.e.,asimplerversionofatask)wasshowntoimprovesyntacticcomplexityandaccuracyconsiderably.Repeatingthesametaskorthesametaskgenre(i.e.,asimpletaskontherepeatedoccasion)wasshowntohaveapositiveeffectonsyntacticcomplexity,grammaticalaccuracy,andfluency.Whensupportwasavailable(intheformsofapredeterminedstorylineforanarrativetaskoratranscriptforalisteningtask,forinstance;i.e.,simpletasks),itwasrevealedthatthetaskelicitedimprovedlexicalvarietyandfluency1.Complextasks,ontheotherhand,alsohadaroletoplay.Inparticular,complextaskswithincreasednumberofelementswereobservedtoleadtoimprovedlexicalvariety;andcomplextaskswhichrequiredlearnerstotellastorybasedonarememberedpictureset(asopposedtoapicturesetavailableinfrontofthem)wereshowntoimprovesyntacticcomplexity.Table1belowsummarizesthesegeneraltrends.

Table1SummaryofGeneralTrendsofFiveRepresentativeCognitiveLoadDesignVariablesinTermsofSyntacticComplexity,GrammaticalAccuracy,LexicalVariety,andFluency

Cognitiveloaddesignvariable

Syntacticcomplexity

Grammaticalaccuracy

Lexicalvariety Fluency

+Planningtime(Simpletask)

++ ++ − −

+Repetition(Simpletask)

+ + − +

+Support(Simpletask)

N/A N/A + +

+Elements(Complextask)

− − + −

There-and-Then(Complextask)

+ − − −

Notes.++indicatesalargeeffect(d>0.8);+indicatesamoderateeffect(0.3<d<0.8);−indicatesasmalltonoeffect(d<0.3);N/Aindicatesthatnostudieshaveinvestigatedthespecifiedvariable.

Theirmeta-analysis(Norris,Sasayama,&Malicka,2018;Sasayamaetal.,2018)hasalsorevealedthatasimpletask(e.g.,readingapassageaboutafamiliartopic)improvedL2learners’taskperformanceintermsofcomprehensionandthatacomplextask(e.g.,withincreasednumberofelements)ledtomoreinteractionamongL2learners.

Principle2:Whendesigningtasks,payattentionnotonlytothelevelofcognitiveloadbutalsotoitstype

1Notethatnostudieswerefoundwhichexaminedtheeffectofsupportonsyntacticcomplexityandaccuracy.

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WhendesigningL2tasks,thelevelofcognitiveloadisnottheonlyaspectofataskthatrequiresconsideration.Differenttypesofcognitiveloadaretheorizedtoposedifferingeffectsonthetask-doers’attentionallocationandinturntheirtaskperformanceandlearning.Inthefieldofcognitivepsychology,ithasbeensuggestedthatcognitiveloadofataskcancomeindifferenttypes,includinggermaneandextraneouscognitiveload(Sweller,1988,1994,2010).Germaneloadisagoodtypeofcomplexitythatdirectslearners’attentiontotheirengagementinandlearningfromthetaskathand.ThistypeofloadthusencouragesL2learnerstopushthelimitsoftheirinterlanguageresourcesandfocusonimprovedperformanceandpotentiallyonlearning(Sasayama&Norris,inpress).Extraneousload,ontheotherhand,isabadtypeofcomplexitythatdistractslearnersfromengagingfullyinthegiventask,andthusdoesnotaidtheminimprovingtheirperformanceoracquiringnewlanguage.Thus,acomplextaskwithhighgermaneloadleadstobetterperformanceandlearning,whereasacomplextaskwithhighextraneousloadimpairsperformance/learning.

Morepractically,germaneloadcanbeheightened,forexample,byincreasingthenumberofsimilarcharactersinvolvedinapicture-basednarrativetask.ThismanipulationoftaskdesignistheorizedtopushL2learnerstodistinguishlinguisticallybetweensimilarcharacters,andthusdrawtheirattentiontotheuseofthelanguage(e.g.,relativeclauses,adjectives,prepositionalphrases)(Robinson,2005).Anotherexampleofmanipulatinggermaneloadisbydecreasingthetimetotellthesamepersonalstorytodifferentlisteners.Thistaskdesignencourageslearnerstopayattentiontofluencyandhowtheydelivertheirstory(e.g.,Nation,1989).Thelevelofgermaneloadcouldalsobealteredthroughtaskinstructions:Byincludingassessmentcriteriainthetaskinstructions,Sasayama(2015;Sasayama&Norris,inpress)hasshownthatL2learnersofEnglish(especiallyofhigherproficiency)wereinclinedtopayattentiontotheassessmentcriteria(i.e.,completeness,effectiveness,andcreativityoftheirnarrativestories)inanefforttoimprovetheirtaskperformances.

Extraneousload,ontheotherhand,maybeincreased,forexample,whenthestorylineofapicture-basednarrativetaskisunclear(Sasayama,2015;Sasayama&Norris,inpress;Tavakoli,2009).Whenengaginginsuchatask,L2learnersarerequiredtousetheirlimitedattentionalresourcestofigureoutthestorylineratherthantothinkabouthowtousethelanguagetodelivertheirstoryeffectively.Givingaspeechspontaneously,withoutmuchpreparationandpractice,canalsoincreaseextraneousloadandmaydistractL2leanersfrompayingattentiontoimprovedperformance(Skehan,1998).Anothertaskdesignelementthatcouldincreaseextraneousloadisasurpriseelementintroducedtoatask,forinstance,byprovidingnewinformationinthemiddleofataskorhavinglearnerstoansweranunanticipatedquestionduringaquestion-and-answer(Q&A)sessionafterapresentation(Skehan,1998;Skehan&Foster,1997).Theeffectofthistaskdesignissimilartotheno-planningcondition;thesurpriseelementdoesnotallowL2learnerstoplanaheadoftimeandthusrequiresthemtousetheirattentionalresourcestothinkwhattosayandhowtosayitsimultaneously.

Principle3:Manipulategermaneandextraneouscognitiveloadstrategically

Aswesawabove,whendesigningtasks,itisimportanttokeepinmindthatataskcanbecomplexindifferentways—whethergermanetothetaskorextraneous—andthatgermaneandextraneousload

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hascontrastingeffectsonL2learners’taskperformanceandlearning.Highgermaneloadleadstobetterperformanceandlearningbydrawinglearners’attentiontotheiruseofthelanguage,whereashighextraneousloadrequireslearnerstopayattentiontonon-linguisticaspectsofataskandthusdistractsthemfromusingtheirlinguisticresourcestothefullestextentduringtaskperformance.IfthepointofthetaskistodrawL2learners’attentiontotheiruseofthelanguageandencouragetheirlanguagedevelopment,thenextraneousloadmayonlyservetofocuslearnerson‘gettingby’ratherthanonstretchingtheirinterlanguageresourcesandimprovetheirperformance.Thus,acombinationofreducedextraneousloadandincreasedgermaneloadisarguedtoleadtoeffectivetaskdesign(Sasayama&Norris,inpress;Sweller,2010).

Doesextraneousloadthenhavenoroletoplayindesigningeffectivetasks?Thekeyhereistoconsiderwhatthepurposeofataskmaybe(Norrisetal.,2018).Inthisdomainofresearch,alargenumberofstudieshasinvestigatedtheeffectofcognitiveloadonlinguisticperformanceanddevelopment;however,studiesthatlookintosucheffectsonthecontentofL2learners’performanceandtheirlearningoftaskproceduresarelacking.Whileextraneousloadmaybesomethingtoavoidifallweareinterestedinisimprovedlinguisticperformance,itmayalsobealegitimatedemandofreal-world,targettasks.Inotherwords,real-worldtasksaretypicallyfullofextraneousload,andifthepointofthetaskistohelpL2learnerslearnhowtodealwithreal-worldtasksintheirL2,thenitmightwellbeagoodideatointroduce,ratherthanavoid,extraneousloadtoataskathand.Forinstance,itmaynotbeagoodideatogetridofunanticipatedquestionsfromapost-presentationQ&Abecausethistypeofquestionistherealitythatourlearnerslikelyfaceintherealworld.Instead,itmightmakemoresensetoteachthemhowtodealwithunanticipatedquestions,byhelpingthemacquirestrategiestocomprehendquestions,avoidgivingdirectanswers,andanticipatequestions.Thus,a“good”taskdesigndependsonthepurposeofataskathand,andforthisreason,itisimportanttomanipulategermaneloadandextraneousloadstrategicallytofulfilltheintendedpurpose.

DESIGNING L2 TASKS: AN EXAMPLE

Howcanthethreeprinciplesaboveactuallybeappliedtoclassroompractice?Inthissection,IwillsharemyownexperiencesoftheactualimplementationoftheprinciplesinL2taskdesign.Below,IwillsetupacontextbyintroducinganEnglishcourseIwasteachingandthesortsofproblemsmystudentswerefacing,andthensharethethreesetsoftasksIdesignedtohelpmystudentsovercomethoseproblems.

Thecourse

Mystudentswerefirst-year,businessmajorsataprivateuniversityinJapan.Theirproficiencylevelswereintermediatetoupper-intermediate(witharangeofaround400-600onTOEICscores).ThecourseIwasteachingwasayear-longcoursewithafocusonspeakingskills.Giventheirmajor,Idecidedtoofferatask-basedbusinessEnglishcoursewherewesimulatedworkingatacompanywhosecorporatelanguagewasEnglish.Inanutshell,inthiscourse,studentsinventedtheirownproductsandengagedinavarietyofbusiness-relatedtasks.TheclasswastaughtentirelyinEnglish,andthestudentsengagedinallclassactivitiesinEnglish(totheextentpossible).Theclasssizewas32.ManyofthestudentsfelttheneedtobeabletospeakEnglishattheirfutureworkplacesand/orunderstoodthevalueofit.

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Inthefirstsemester,theywererandomlydividedintogroupsoffour(sotheclasshadeightgroupsoffour).Asagrouptheyengagedinawiderangeofbusiness-relatedtasks,includingwritingemails,readingaboutrealinventions,andlearningaboutWidget’s(Benevides&Valvona,2008)products.Asamaintask,eachgroupcameupwiththeirownproductideasandpolishedtheirideasbydesigningacustomersurveyandcollectingresponsesfromtheirhypotheticalcustomers.Theirideasincludedsuchcreativeproductsasa“PenTV”thatcomeswithaprojectorandletsyouwatchTVonalargescreenanywhere,“AutomaticCarryCase,”ahands-freecarry-onthatfollowsyou,anda“Sensorin”thatdetectstheshapeofvegetablesandfruitsbyasensorandcutsthemautomatically.Asafinaltask,theygaveagrouppresentationabouttheirowninvention.Attheveryendofthesemesterthen,theclassvotedtochoosethebestfourproductsoutoftheeight.

Inthesecondsemester,thestudentsworkedfurtheronthechosenfourbestproductideasfromtheprevioussemester.Thestudentswhoseproductwaschosenasoneofthefouractedasexpertsandwelcomednewmemberstotheirteam.Basically,theoriginalgroupseparatedintotwoteams,andtwonewmembersjoinedeachteam.So,inthesecondsemester,twogroupswereworkingonexactlythesameproductidea(whichwasanimportantelementoftaskdesignaswewillseelateron).Thestudentsimprovedandelaboratedontheoriginalproductideas,consideredavarietyofwaystomaketheirproductsbetter,andcreatedposterstoadvertisetheirproducts.Asafinaltask,eachgroupgaveapresentationabouttheirfinalizedproductidea,incorporatingwhattheyhadlearnedthroughouttheyear.Ofthevarietyoftaskscompletedbythestudents,inthispaper,Iwillparticularlyfocusonthegrouppresentationsthatthestudentsengagedinattheendofeachsemester.

Theproblems

Whenmystudentsgavegrouppresentationsinthefirstsemester,theirpresentationspersewerequitehighinquality.However,theystruggledtoagreatdealwiththeQ&Asessionthatfollowedtheirpresentations.Thechallengesforthemseemedtoinclude:(a)TheywerenotatallusedtodoingQ&A(eitherinEnglishorJapanese)onthespot,(b)theycouldnotunderstandthequestions,(c)theyhadnotanticipatedthequestions,andsotheydidnotknowwhattosay,and/or(d)theyknewwhattheywantedtosay,butdidnotknowhowtosayit.Withthesechallengesinmind,Idesignedaseriesoftaskstouseinthesecondsemester,priortotheirsecondgrouppresentations.

Tasks

Below,IwilloutlinethethreesetsoftasksIdesignedtohelpmystudentsimprovetheirQ&Aperformances.Here,Iwilldescribethepurposeofeachsetoftasks,theirdetails,andthetheoreticalbackgrounds(i.e.,thetaskdesignprinciples)onwhichIbasedmytaskdesign.

Task1

ThepurposeofthefirstsetoftaskswastohelpmystudentsimprovetheirabilitytocomprehendthetypesofquestionsthatmightbetypicalofaQ&Asessionfollowingabusinesspresentation.Tothisend,Imadealistofquestions,usingquestionsthatmymoreadvancedstudentshadaskedabouttheir

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classmates’inventionstheyearbefore(seeFigure1below).Thequestionsweresequencedintheorderofcomplexity/cognitiveload,andtheyweremanipulatedbylinguisticdemands,includingthesentencelength,wordchoice,andcontextofthequestions(Skehan,1998).Westartedwithlesscomplexsentencesfirst,sothatthestudentswouldnotbecognitivelyoverwhelmedandwouldgetusedtothetasktypeandproceduresgraduallybeforetheyworkedwithmorecomplexsentences(Robinson,2001).

1. Howbigisyourproduct?2. Howheavyisyourproduct?3. Howmanycolorsdoesyourproductcomein?4. Isyourproductwaterproof?5. Doesitcomewithawarranty?6. Howlongdoesittaketochargethebattery?7. What’sthepowersource?8. Howisyourproductdifferentfromothersimilarproductsthatalreadyexist?9. Youmighthavementioneditinyourpresentation,buthowmuchisyourproductagain?10. Inyourpresentation,youmentionedthatyouaregoingtousePikotarotopromoteyour

product.Couldyoutelluswhy?Figure1.AlistofQ&Aquestionsintheorderofcomplexitywiththefirstonebeingleastcomplex.

Inaddition,Icreatedanadvancedorganizertohelpmystudentscomprehendthequestions(seeFigure2).Thisadvancedorganizerwasconsideredtobeatypeofsupport,whichhelpsreducecognitiveloadofatask.Followingthemeta-analysisfindings(Norrisetal.,2018;Sasayamaetal.,2018),byreducingcognitiveloadofthelisteningtask,itwashypothesizedthatitwouldimprovestudents’comprehensionofthequestions.Inthistask,theadvancedorganizerwasintendedtohelpstudentslearnwhattofocusonwhilelisteningtothequestions,whichpotentiallyhelpstoreducetheextraneousloadofdealingwiththetargettask(i.e.,understandingthequestionsaskedinEnglish).Aswewillseelateron,inTask3,thestudentswererequiredtolistentoandcomprehendquestionswithoutthisadvancedorganizer.Thus,itwasimportanttointroducethistaskdesignelementofsupportandreducecognitiveloadofthetaskinitially,sothatthestudentscouldpayattentiontolisteningstrategiesandlearnwhattheyshouldfocusonduringtheQ&Aatthispoint.

Whatisthemainquestionword(orwords)? Whatisthemaincontentword(orwords)?1 2 3 4 5 Figure2.Advancedorganizertoaidstudentswiththeirlisteningcomprehension.

Inclass,Ireadaloudthelistofquestionsandaskedmystudentstofillouttheadvancedorganizer.Wedidthefirstquestiontogethertomakesurethateveryoneunderstoodthetaskinstructions.Then,thestudentsworkedontheirownonthenextfourquestions,andwecheckedtheanswersofthesequestions.Subsequently,wediscussedavarietyofstrategiestousewhentheycouldnotcatchthequestionrightaway.Ideasincluded:(a)requestingarepetitionand(b)checkingtheirunderstandingof

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thequestionasked.Phrasessuchas“Couldyourepeatthequestion?”,“Canyousaythatagain?”,and“Onemoretimeplease?”wereelicitedfromthestudentsasastrategytoaskforarepetitionofthequestion.Ontheotherhand,theyexpressedthattheymightbeabletousephraseslike“So,youmean…?”,“You’reasking…Isthatright?”,and“LetmeseeifIunderstandthequestion”whentheywantedtocheckwhethertheyunderstoodthequestioncorrectly.Ithenreadfivemorequestionsaloudfromthemorecomplexsetofthequestions(Questions5through10inFigure1).Theywereinstructedtodothesameasthefirstsetofquestions,buttheywerealsoencouragedtoaskforarepetitionand/orconfirmtheirunderstandingwhennecessary.Itwasinterestingtoobservemystudentsusingthenewlylearnedphrasessoreadilyandquitewillingly.Aswecheckedanswers,Imadesurethatthestudentsunderstoodthemeaningofthequestions,byaskingthemtodefinewordsthatIthoughtwouldbedifficultforthem(e.g.,warranty,powersource)andbyallowingthemtochatwitheachotheraboutthemeaningofeachquestion(especiallyQuestion10).

Task2

Thenextstephadtodowithbeingabletoactuallyanswerthequestionsthattheycomprehendedcorrectly.Thus,thepurposesofthesecondsetoftasksweretohelpstudentsdeveloptheirabilitytodelivergoodanswersduringtheQ&Asessionand,inparticular,directtheirattentiontosyntacticcomplexityandaccuracyoftheirresponses.Tothisend,Iaskedmystudentstowritedowntheiranswerstothequestionsabouttheproductthattheyinvented,someofwhichweretheonestheyhadjustheardandotherswerenew(seeFigure3forthelistofquestions).

1. Isyourproductsafe?2. Howbigisyourproduct?3. Howheavyisyourproduct?4. Howmanycolorsdoesyourproductcomein?5. Isyourproductwaterproof?6. Isyourproductshockproof?7. What’sthepowersource?8. Doesitcomewithawarranty?9. Howlongdoesittaketochargethebattery?10. Youmighthavementioneditinyourpresentation,buthowmuchisyourproductagain?11. Howdoyouplantopromoteyourproduct?12. Howisyourproductdifferentfromothersimilarproductsthatalreadyexist?13. Howcanyouselltheproductatsuchareasonableprice?14. Whatwouldyousayifyouhadtogiveonechallengeofactuallydevelopingyourproduct?

Figure3.AlistofQ&AquestionsusedinTask2.

WhenchoosingquestionstobeincludedinTask2,Imadesurethatthequestionsaskedwererelevanttoallgroups.(Forexample,Ididnotincludequestionslike“Isittasty?”or“Howmanyflavorsdoesithave?”becausenoteveryonewasinventingafoodproduct.)Thestudentsweregivenplentyoftimetoplantheirresponsestothosequestionspriortoandduringtheirwriting.Thisavailabilityofplanningtimewasincorporatedinthetaskdesignherebecauseplanningtimewasshowntobeaneffective

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designfeaturetodirectL2learners’attentiontosyntacticcomplexityandaccuracyoftheirlanguageproduction(Malicka&Sasayama,2017),whichwaswhatTask2wasbeingdesignedtodo.

Additionally,thestudentsweregiventhefollowingtaskinstructions:

Theinstructionstocheckthelinguisticaspectsoftheirresponses(i.e.,theunderlinedpartoftheinstructionsabove)weremeanttoencourageextraattentiontobepaidtoaccuracyoftheirlanguageproduction.Thetips(i.e.,what’sboldedabove),ontheotherhand,wereintendedtoattractthestudents’attentiontosyntacticcomplexity(seeSasayama&Norris,inpress,forthepoweroftaskinstructions).Onthewhole,planningtimereducedthecomplexityofthetaskand,togetherwiththeextrataskinstructions,itwasdesignedtohelpstudentsdevelopandexpandtheirinterlanguage,sothattheywouldhavesomethingappropriateandconvincingtosayinEnglish.

Asseenintheabovetaskinstructions,thestudentsworkedonthe14questionsindividuallyandthenexchangedtheiranswerswiththeirgroupmembers.Thisprocessallowedthemtothinkmorecarefullyabouttheirproductandcometoaconsensusaboutdetailsoftheirproduct.Thestudentswerethenaskedtopracticeaskingandansweringthequestionswithapartnerfromadifferentteam.Lastly,inpreparationforthenexttask,wereviewedstrategiestousewhentheycouldnotunderstandthequestionanddiscussedstrategiestouseiftheydidnotknowtheanswertothequestionasked.Giventhattheywereonlyfirst-yearuniversitystudentsandnoneofthemhadworkedforacompanyevenasanintern,thisdiscussionprovedtobequitedifficultforthem.Aftersomenegotiation,bothinEnglishandinJapanese,theysuggestedthattheymightbeabletosaysomethinglike“Letmediscussitwithmycolleaguesandgetbacktoyoulater.”Asalternatives,Isuggestedthefollowingphrases:“Sorry,wecannotdisclosethatinformation”,“Sorry,it’sacompany’ssecret”,“Wehadn’tthoughtofthat.We’lldefinitelythinkaboutthat.Thankyouforthesuggestion.”Itwasinterestingtoobservethestudentsbeingveryengagedinthisdiscussionandtakingnoteswithoutbeinginstructedtodoso.Ithenpointedoutthatitisnoteffectivetousethisstrategyallthetime,andsotoldthemthattheycoulduseitonlyonceduringtheirfinalpresentation.Overall,Task2wasdesignedtoreduceextraneousloadbyprovidingplanningtimeandincreasegermaneloadbygivingtheextrataskinstructions.

Answerthefollowingquestionsaboutyourproduct.Workonyourownfirst,thenIwillletyoushareyourideaswithyourgroupmembers.Onceyou’refinished,makesuretocheckyourgrammarandwordchoice.

Tips:Avoidjustsayingyesorno,eventoayes-noquestion!Makesureyouaddasentencetoelaborate.

Example1)Isyourvegetablecutterreallysafetouse?

–Yes,itactuallyhasasensortodetecthumanmotion,soitdoesnotworkwhenyourfingerisinit.

Example2)DoesyourTVcomewithawarranty?

–No,I’mafraidnot.Butyoucanbuyathree-yearwarrantyfor5000yen.

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Task3

Asafinalsetoftasks,IwantedtogivethestudentstheopportunitytobenefitfromactuallyansweringquestionsinasimulatedQ&Asession,whileencouragingthemtodevelopthefluencyoftheirresponses.Withthispurposeinmind,Ihadmystudentsgiveaone-minutepitchabouttheirproductandengageinasimulatedQ&Asession.Aspreparation,Ihadthestudentspairupwithamemberoftheotherteamthatwasworkingonthesameoriginalproductidea(seethecourseabove).Theywereinstructedtogiveaone-minutepitchabouttheirproductideatotheirpartnerusingthepostertheycreatedearlierinthesemester(seeFigure4forastudent’ssamplework).

Figure4.Asampleofonestudent’sposter.

Asalistener,theirjobwastospyontheotherteam’simprovementsfromtheoriginalideaandthustofindoutasmuchaspossibleaboutwhattheircompetitor’simprovedproductwaslike.Theywerealsoinstructedtoaskquestionsaftertheirpartner’sone-minutepitchtofindoutmoreabouttheproduct.Thisscenario-basedtaskwasintendedtocreateameaningful,authenticinformationgapandencourageinteractiontobringaboutL2acquisition(Long,1996;Pica,1994).Asanextrainstruction,ItoldthemthattheywouldhavetoaskatleastthreequestionstotheirpartnerandthatonecouldbefromthelistofthequestionsfromTask2,buttheothertwohadtobenew.Thispotentiallyextraneousloadwasintroducedtomakethetaskmorerealisticandclosertowhattheywouldexperienceintheirfinalpresentation(andintherealworld).

Thestudentsdidthistaskcyclethreetimeswithdifferentpartnersfromthesamecompetitorgroup.Thistaskrepetitionreducedextraneousloadofhavingtodealwithgivingaone-minutepitchabouttheirproductideaandaskingandansweringnewquestions,andthusfreedupsomeattentionalresourcesto

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bedevotedtolinguisticaspectsoftheirutterancesandhelpedthemfocusonfluency(Malicka&Sasayama,2017).AttheveryendofTask3,eachgroupgatheredtogethertosharetheinformationtheycollected,sharedthesortsofquestionstheywereasked,checkedtheiranswerstothenewquestions,andfinallyplannedhowtomaketheirproductbetterthananddistinctfromtheircompetitor’s.Forhomework,theywereencouragedtoanticipateotherquestionsthatmightcomeupaftertheirfinalpresentationandprepareanswerstotheseanticipatedquestions.

OBSERVATIONS OF THE STUDENTS’ Q&A PERFORMANCES

AFTER TRAINING

Beforeclosingthispaper,Iwouldliketosharesomeobservationsofmystudents’Q&Aperformancesaftertheyexperiencedtheabovementionedthreesetsoftasks.Overall,theirperformancesimprovedconsiderably.Itwasespeciallyimpressivetoseethattheywereabletoavoidsilencebyeitheraskingforrepetition/clarificationofthequestionsaskedorbyprovidinganswersrightaway.Thus,themoststrikingimprovementwastheirimprovedfluency.Thefollowingcommentfromastudentillustratesthisimprovement:

Inthelastsemester,Ididn’tprepareanything,soIcouldnotanswercompletely.Onthecontrary,Ipreparedsomeoftheknowledgeandanswersinthissemester,soIcouldanswersomequestionssmoothly.[sic]

Anotherbigimprovementwasnotedinlinguisticcomplexityorelaboration.Inthefirstsemester,mostofthestudentsansweredayes-noquestionwitheitherayesorano.Inthesecondsemester,however,manyofthemelaboratedontheiryes/noanswersomehow.Forexample,onestudentaskedwhether“Sensorin,”theautomaticvegetableandfruitcutter,wassafetouse.Inresponse,oneofthepresenterssaid“Yes,itissafeevenforchildren.”ThiselaborateduseofthelanguagewasnotsomethingIobservedinthefirstsemester,andIwasimpressedbythisquickimprovement.Lastly,itisinterestingtonotethattheseriesoftasksintroducedabovemadethetargettaskofansweringquestionsduringtheQ&Aeasiertohandle,atleastforsomestudents:

Q&AsessionisnotsodifficultbecauseitwaseasytoexpectwhatwillwebeaskedsoIthinkitwaseasierthanlastsemester.IfI’llhavesuchlikethisoccasionIwanttounderstandperfectlywhatIaskedonlyonce.[sic]

Allinall,throughtheexperienceofapplyingthetheoriesofL2taskdesigntomyownteaching,Istronglyfelttheimportanceandeffectivenessofengaginginevidence-basedL2taskdesign.

CONCLUSION

Inthispaper,IemphasizedtheimportanceofbeingmindfulofthelevelandtypeofcognitiveloadwhendesigningL2tasks.Researchsuggeststhatcognitiveloadcanbemanipulatedbychanginginherentdesigncharacteristics,implementationconditions,andlanguagedemands,andthatataskwithvaryingdegreesofcognitiveloadhasdifferenteffectsonL2learner’staskperformances.Furthermore,manipulationofcognitiveloadthroughtaskdesignhasbeenshowntobeaneffectivewaytoencourage

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L2learnerstopayattentiontovariousaspectsoftheirtaskperformances(e.g.,content,comprehension,syntacticcomplexity,accuracy,lexis,fluencyofproduction)andtheirinterlanguagedevelopmentasaresult.Itisalsoimportanttodistinguishbetweenagoodtype(i.e.,germaneload)andabadtypeofcognitiveload(i.e.,extraneousload),becausethesetwotypesofloadhavecontrastingeffectsonL2learners’taskperformance.Germaneloadencourageslearnerstopayattentiontolinguisticaspectsoftheirtaskperformanceandthuslikelyleadstoimprovedperformance/learning,whereasextraneousloaddistractslearnersfromattendingtothetaskathandandthustendstodeteriorateperformance/learning.Thus,ifthepointofthetaskistodrawL2leaners’attentiontotheiruseofthelanguageandencouragetheirlanguagedevelopment,thenextraneousloadmaybesomethingtobeavoided.However,extraneousloadmayalsopresentlegitimatedemandsofreal-world,targettasksthatcannotbeavoidedinreallife.Pedagogictaskdesign,therefore,shouldbeaboutbalancinggermaneandextraneousload,ratherthanincreasinggermaneloadandeliminatingextraneousloadcompletelyallthetime.Inconclusion,itisimportanttousegermaneloadstrategicallytohelplearnersdeveloptheirinterlanguageandcommunicationperformance,whilechallengingthemwithreal-worldextraneousloadsothattheywillalsobeabletoacquiretask-relevantproceduresanddealwithtargettasksinreallifebeyondtheshelteredclassroomenvironment.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ThispaperisbasedonaworkshopgivenattheJALT2017conferenceaswellasaGrants-in-AidforScientificResearch(KAKEN)project(ProjectCode:17K13495)fundedbytheJapanSocietyforthePromotionofScience(JSPS).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ShokoSasayama,PhD, isProjectAssistantProfessorat theUniversityofTokyo.Heracademic interestsinclude languagepedagogy (especially taskdesign), cognitivepsychology, L2assessment, andattitudesand individual differences. Shoko is a strong advocate for the use of L2 research for the purpose ofinformingpractice/teachingandforthebettermentofL2educationworldwide.

REFERENCES

Benevides,M.,&Valvona,C.(2008).Widgets:Atask-basedcourseinpracticalEnglish.HongKong:PearsonLongman.

Long,M.H.(1996).Theroleoflinguisticenvironmentinsecondlanguageacquisition.InW.Ritchie&T.K.Bhatia(Eds.),Handbookofsecondlanguageacquisition(pp.413–468).SanDiego,CA:AcademicPress.

Malicka,A.,&Sasayama,S.(April,2017).Theimportanceoflearningfromtheaccumulatedknowledge:Findingsfromaresearchsynthesisontaskcomplexity.Paperpresentedatthe7thBiennialInternationalConferenceonTask-BasedLanguageTeaching,Barcelona,Spain.

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Nation,I.S.P.(1989).Improvingspeakingfluency.System,17,377–384.

Norris,J.M.,Sasayama,S.,&Malicka,A.(May,2018).Meta-analysisoftaskcomplexityeffectsonL2performance:Implicationsforassessment.Paperpresentedatthe15thEuropeanAssociationforLanguageTestingandAssessmentconference,Bochum,Germany.

Pica,T.(1994).Researchonnegotiation:Whatdoesitrevealaboutsecond-languagelearningconditions,processes,andoutcomes?LanguageLearning,44,493–527.

Robinson,P.(2001).Taskcomplexity,cognitiveresources,andsyllabusdesign:AtriadicframeworkforexaminingtaskinfluencesonSLA.InP.Robinson(Ed.),Cognitionandsecondlanguageinstruction(pp.287–318).Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.

Robinson,P.(Ed.).(2011).Secondlanguagetaskcomplexity:ResearchingtheCognitionHypothesisoflanguagelearningandperformance.Amsterdam:JohnBenjamins.

Robinson,P.(2005).Cognitivecomplexityandtasksequencing:Areviewstudiesinacomponentialframeworkforsecondlanguagetaskdesign.InternationalReviewofAppliedLinguisticsinLanguageTeaching,43,1–33.

Sasayama,S.(2015).Validatingtheassumedrelationshipbetweentaskdesign,cognitivecomplexity,andsecondlanguagetaskperformance(Doctoraldissertation).RetrievedfromProQuest.

Sasayama,S.,&Norris,J.M.(inpress).Unravellingcognitivetaskcomplexity:Learningfromlearners’perspectivesontaskcharacteristicsandsecondlanguageperformance.InZ.Wen&M.Ahmadian(Eds.),ResearchingL2taskperformanceandpedagogyinHonorofPeterSkehan.Amsterdam:JohnBenjamins.

Sasayama,S.,Norris,J.M.,&Malicka,A.(June,2018).Whatdowereallyknowaboutcognitivetaskcomplexity?PaperpresentedattheTBLTinAsia2018conference,Kyoto,Japan.

Skehan,P.(1998).Acognitiveapproachtolanguagelearning.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress.

Skehan,P.(2014).Limitedattentionalcapacity,secondlanguageperformance,andtask-basedpedagogy.InP.Skehan(Ed.),Processingperspectivesontaskperformance(pp.211–260).Amsterdam:JohnBenjamins.

Skehan,P.,&Foster,P.(1997).Tasktypeandtaskprocessingconditionsasinfluencesonforeignlanguageperformance.LanguageTeachingResearch,1,185–211.

Sweller,J.(1988).Cognitiveloadduringproblemsolving:Effectsonlearning.CognitiveScience,12,257–285.

Sweller,J.(1994).Cognitiveloadtheory,learningdifficulty,andinstructionaldesign.LearningandInstruction,4,295–312.

Sweller,J.(2010).Elementinteractivityandintrinsic,extraneous,andgermanecognitiveload.EducationalPsychologyReview,22,123–138.

Tavakoli,P.(2009).Investigatingtaskdifficulty:Learners’andteachers’perceptions.

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InternationalJournalofAppliedLinguistics,19,1–25.

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LESSON PLANS

AMarketResearchSurveyProjectNicholasMarx-KanazawaSeiryoUniversity

Thisisamulti-lesson,task-basedsurveyprojectaimedatpost-secondaryintermediatelearnersthatalsocouldbeadaptedforlowerorhigherproficiencylevels.Theprojectultimatelyleadstothedevelopmentofsimplemarketresearchsurveysandgroup presentationstoexplaintheresultsusingPowerPointslideshowswithaccompanyingchartsandgraphs.

GOALS

• Understandingbasicsurvey-makingstrategies• Linkingbusinessandresearchconceptstogether• Collectingandreportingsurveydata• Familiarizingstudentswiththevocabularyneededtopresentstatisticalinformation• Connectingdataandideaswithinpresentations• Promotingproblemsolvingandcollaborativelearning

MATERIALS

• Computerandprojector• Examplesofmarketresearchsurveys• AccesstocomputerwithPowerPointorotherpresentationsoftware• Studentinternetconnectionforconductingbasiconlineresearch• Worksheetsformakingsurveysandcollectingdata

PRE-TASK (LESSON 1)

Inthisintroductorylesson,theinstructorshouldstartbyshowingstudentsafewexamplesofsurveysfromdifferentwebsiteswithsurveytemplates.OneexampleofawebsitetofindsuchtemplatesisSurveyMonkey(see<https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/consumer-behavior-survey-template/>and<https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/skin-care-products-survey-template/>).Othersourcesoftemplatescanbefoundonlineaswell(e.g.,see<http://www.marketest.co.uk/market-research-questionnaire/158/restaurant_customers_habits>).Beyondshowingthesurveytemplates,itisalsoadvisabletowalkthestudentsthroughseveraldifferentsurveystogivethemabetterideaoftheflowofwell-constructedsurveys.Prepare

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someexamplesofbothgoodandbadsurveysthatcanbecritiquedinclasstohighlightboththetypesofquestionsaskedandtheoverallcontinuityneededtomakeagoodsurvey.Sincethethemeofthistaskismarketresearch,selectingexamplesofsurveysinthisareawouldbebeneficial.

PRE-TASK PREPARATION

Providestudentswithabackgroundscenariofortheirsurveyproject.Forexample,thestudentscouldbeinchargeofcreatinganewserviceorproductthatisaimedatstudent-agedconsumers.Askthestudentswhatarethingsthatyoungpeopleareinterestedinthesedaysorwhattheythinkcouldbeagoodbusinessidea.Giveanexampleofaproductandaskthemsomequestionsabouttheirinterestintheproductorservice(e.g.,Wouldtheybuyitoruseit?Howmuchwouldtheypaytobuyoruseit?).Showthestudentssomeexamplesofmarketresearchsurveysfromtheinternet.Walkthroughansweringthemtogetherasaclass.Letthestudentsknowthattheyneedtodeveloptheirownmarketresearchingroupsbycompletingaseriesofsteps:Thinkofaproductidea,createquestionstocheckmarketinterest,practicethesurvey,adjustthesurvey,collectdata,andfinally,presentthedatatotheclassusingPowerPoint.Whileanysizegroupcanbeutilized,groupsoffourstudentstendtoallowforbothanappropriateamountofcollaborativedialogueandalargersamplesizeforthesurvey.

PRE-TASK PART 1

Theideaofthefirstpartofthepre-tasklessonistogetthestudentsacquaintedwithsurveysandthenotionofcontinuitybetweenthequestionsasked.Inthisstage,theinstructorshouldfocusmoreonwhatagoodsurveycontains.Inparticular,itisadvisabletodirectstudents’attentiontothevocabularyandgrammarusedinsuchquestions.

Afterreiteratingthekeyfeaturesofgoodsurveys,thestudentswillcreateaverybriefpracticesurvey.Thispracticesurveyshouldbeatotaloffivequestionsandincludeoneortwoquestionsondemographicinformation(e.g.,age,gender,hometown,job),buyingpatterns(e.g.,whattheybuy,whentheybuyit),andthepurportedbenefitsdesiredofaproduct/service(e.g.,whatthepersonwantsfromtheproduct/service).

PRE-TASK PART 2

Followingthecreationofthepracticesurvey,thestudentswillgoaroundtheclassaskingtheirpeerstorespondtotheirsurveyswhilerecordinganswersonapreparedworksheet(seeAppendixA).Theinstructormaywanttoassigngroupsorsetupsomeformofsystemforthistobedonemoreefficiently.

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Duringthisstage,itisimportanttoprovidesomefeedbacktothestudentsaboutthecontinuityoftheirpracticesurveys.Itmayalsobeadvisabletoshowthemhowtopreparealternativequestionsifneeded.Ifthestudentsmakequestionsdependentontheanswerofthepreviousquestions,theywillalsoneedtohavealternativequestionstoaccompanythem.Havingthestudentsprepareshortpresentationsontheirresultsmaybeagoodhomeworkassignmenttoconsideriftimepermits.

MAIN TASK (LESSONS 2 & 3)

Inlessons2and3,thestudentsarenowpreparedtoworkonthemaintask:

Infour-membergroups,developmarketresearchonanideathatinterestsyou.Themarketforthisresearcharestudentsatyouruniversity.First,createa5-10questionsurveythatmeasuresinterest.Then,eachgroupmustcollectdatafromatotalof60respondents(20canbefromthisclass).Askotherstudentsatthisuniversityyoursurveyquestionsandrecordtheiranswersonthehandoutsprovided.Finally,youwillgiveapresentationontheresultsofyoursurvey.Besuretoconnectyoursurveydatawithideasinyourfinalpresentation.

MAIN TASK PART 1 (LESSON 2)

Duringthispartofthetask,thegroupswillcreatetheirmarketresearchsurveysandbegincollectingdatafromtheirclassmates.Allowingstudentstousetheirsmartphonestosearchforrelatedinformation,theinstructorshouldmonitorgroupprogressandassistthegroupsasneeded.Afterthecreationoftheirsurveys,splitthemembersintogroupsandletthemaskthemembersofthesenewgroupstheirsurveyquestionsandcollecttheirdata.Therestofthedatacanbecollectedoutsideoftheclassfromotherstudentsattheuniversity.

MAIN TASK PART 2 (LESSON 3)

Inthesecondpartofthetask,thestudentswillcreatePowerPointslideshowpresentationsintheirgroupsandpreparetopresenttheirfindingstotheirclass.Beforethispartofthelesson,theinstructorshouldshowthemsomeexamples.Onesuggestionistoshowthemanexampleslidewithapiechartandanotherexampleslidewithabarchart.Sincemanystudentsoftenhavelittleknowledgeofgraphsandstatistics,illustrativeexampleslikethesemakebasicchartsandgraphseasiertounderstand.Alongwiththeseexamples,showthemhowtoconnectthedatatheyarepresentingtocreatealogicalflow.Followingtheseexamples,havethestudentsbegintomaketheirPowerPointslideshowswiththeinstructorsupervisingandgivinginstructionwhenneeded.Thestudentswillhaveuntilthenextclasstopreparefortheirpresentations.Theinstructorshouldinformthestudentsthattheyneedtofindtimetocompletetheirslidesandpracticetheirpresentationdeliveries

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outsideofclass.Therefore,itmaybeadvisabletoexchangecontactinformationwithoneanother.Alongwiththis,theinstructorshouldinformthegroupsongoodpresentationsskills(e.g.,posture,voiceprojection,eyecontact,etc.).

POST-TASK (LESSON 4)

Inclass,eachgroupwillgiveapresentationreportingontheirmarketresearchwithanaccompanyingPowerPointslideshow.Studentsintheaudienceshouldtakenotesoneachgroup’smainthemeaswellasthekeypointsfromtheirpresentations.Theinstructorcanmakeaworksheetforthis,buthavingthestudentswritetheirnotesdownonapieceofpaperissuitable.

INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK AND SELF-REFLECTION

Afterthepresentations,theinstructorshouldgivethelearnersfeedbackandallowtheopportunityforself-reflectioningroups.Theinstructorshouldaskthegroupstotalkaboutwhattheythinktheydidwellandwhattheycouldhavedonebetter.Arubricforevaluatingthepresentationsissharedbelow. PresentationSkills PowerPoint Content

Excellent l Clearvoicel Standingstraightl Goodeyecontactl Positiveattitude

l Easytounderstandl Useofvisualsl Goodbalance

l Easytounderstandl Goodlinkingofideasand

datal Clearobjective

Good l Lessclearvoicel Leaningslightlyl Someeyecontactl Goodattitude

l Easytounderstandl Useofvisualsl Somewhatconsistent

formatting

l Easytounderstandl Linkingofideasanddata

couldbebetterl Somewhatclearobjective

Satisfactory l Can’tbeheardeasilyl Leaningonpodiuml Littleeyecontactl OKattitude

l Somewhateasytounderstand

l Notmanyuseofvisualsl Inconsistentformatting

l Somewhateasytounderstand

l Linkingofideasanddatacouldbebetter

l SomewhatclearobjectivePoor l Can’tbeheard

l Badposturel Noeyecontactl Notserious

l Difficulttounderstandl Novisualsl Inconsistentformatting

l Can’tbeunderstoodl Nolinkingofideasanddatal Objectiveunclear

POTENTIAL VARIATIONS

Theamountofsupportyougivethestudentscanvarybyneed.Asaresult,thetimelinemayneedtobeextendedifmoretimeisneededforexplanationorassistance.

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Iftimepermits,onethingtheinstructorcandoistocontinuethisthemewithabusinessideaprojectwherethelearnerscreateaproductorserviceandhavetopitchthisidea.Thestudentscanusethemarketresearchdatatoformtheirbusinessproject.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

NicholasMarxcurrentlyteachesatKanazawaSeiryoUniversityinIshikawa,Japan.HeholdsanMAinTESOLfromUniversityCollegeLondon,InstituteofEducation.Hismainareasofinterestarelanguageanxiety,affectivefactors,collaborativelearning,extensivereading,andtask-basedpedagogy.

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Q1:

Q2:

Q3:

Q4:

Q5:

APPENDIX A

Name: StudentID:

ResearchDataCollection(Practice)

Nameor

StudentID

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5

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APPENDIX B

Nameor

StudentID

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10

Name: StudentID:

ResearchDataCollection

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Storytelling:TappingStudentImaginationSimonRowe–LanguageCentre,KwanseiGakuinUniversity

Thisisalessonplansuitableforasingletwo-hourwritingworkshop,orasaseriesof90-minutetask-basedlessonswithinanintensivewritingprogram.Itdrawsprimarilyonstudents’personalexperiencesandencouragesthemtouseimaginationandtothinkcreatively.Itmaybeadaptedtobeginner,intermediate,andadvancedlanguagelearnerlevels.

GOALS

• Encouragecreativethought• Reinforcewritingprocesses• Demonstratethelinkbetweenfactandfiction• Familiarisestudentswiththebuildingblocksofanarrativeandprovidethemwithasimple

frameworkforstorytelling• Underscoretheimportanceofstorytellingasaformofpersonalexpression• Produceashortstory,orabodyofwriting(overseverallessons)tobesharedand/or

publishedamongstudents

MATERIALS

• Largewhiteboardorseveralsmallerwhiteboards• Studentwritingmaterials• Internetconnectionandprojectorforviewingofshortvideosinclass

PREPARATION

Arrangestudentsintogroupsofthreeorfourmembers.Haveeachmemberretellapopularfolktaleinitsmostbasicformwithoutrevealingitsname.Encouragemembersofthegrouptoguessitcorrectly.Meanwhile,createonthewhiteboardalistofplottypesusedinpopularstorytellingsuchasthoseoutlinedbyBooker(2004):Quest,Tragedy,Comedy,Monster,etc.(see<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots>forabriefoverview),andgiveexamplebook/movietitlesforeach.Askstudentsiftheycanmatchtheirownfolktaletoaspecificplottype.Havethemwritethisonthewhiteboard.NowturntothemesusedinpopularstoriessuchasFamily,Revenge,Success,Teamwork,etc.(see<https://writersedit.com/fiction-writing/10-most-popular-literary-theme-examples/>)foramoreextensivelistwithexamples.Again,havestudentsaddthesetotheirownfolktale,‘buildingoutward’inmind-mapfashionontheboard.“Storytelling”canbewritteninthecentre.

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PRE-TASK

THINKING Havestudentstakeafewminutestothinkaloneaboutamemorableexperiencetheyhavehadintheirlives.Encouragethemtomakenotesandtothinkabouttheirexperienceintermsofthemes.Putguidingquestionsontheboard:Whathappened?Wheredidithappen?Whowasinvolved?Howdidyoufeel?andsoon.Havestudentsreturntotheirgroupsandrelatetheirstoriesorallytoothermembers,allowingtimeforquestions,comments,andfeedback.Explaintostudentsthat(fictional)characters’actionsandreactionstoeventsaroundthemoftenmimicthoseofreallife(underscoringthepremisethat‘fictionisbasedonfact’).Encouragestudentstothinkabouthowtheymightshapeapersonalexperienceintoafictionalone.Drawtheirattentionbacktotheplottypesandhavethemconsidertheirstoriesasabasisofafictionaltale.Examples:

• Airtravelandflyingthroughturbulence(Voyage-and-return;CastAway,TheMartian)• Scubadivingorsnorkellingforthefirsttime(Monster;JAWS,TheDeep)• Holdingaparty(Comedy;TheHangover,TheParty).

Nowintroducestorystructure.Drawthisasaseriesofthreeboxesontheboardandwrite,‘Beginning,Middle,andEnd’.Studentsshouldrecognisethisstructurefrompresentationwritinglessons,i.e.,Introduction,Body,andConclusion.

TASK 1

PLANNING Havestudentsreturntotheirnotebooksandplanafictionalshortstorybasedontheirownexperience.Theywillberequiredtonotedownthemesandplottype,andtostructuretheirstorywithinthethreeboxes.Chooseapopularmoviestory(e.g.JAWSorROCKY)andcreateonthewhiteboardabasicplantohelpstudentsmakethe‘mentalleap’fromfacttofiction.Again,encourageimaginativethinking.

TASK 2

WRITING CuetwoshortTED-Edvideos:

• NaloHopkinson’s(2015)Howtowritedescriptively-4:32o Availableonlineat<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSoRzTtwgP4>

• VictoriaSmith’s(2017)Howtomakeyourwritingsuspenseful-4:35

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o Availableonlineat<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjKruwAfZWk>.Remindstudentsthattheprocessofstorytelling(inwrittenform)requiresmultipledraftsandthatthefirstdraftisexactlythat.Allow30-45minutesforthemtodeveloptheirideas,encouragingthemtowritefreelyandexpansively.Emphasishereisoncreativeexpression;instructorsshouldthereforefocusonideadevelopment,storystructure,andinterest/entertainmentvalue,ratherthanspellingandgrammar,whichcanbeaddressedlateron.

TASK 3

• REFLECTING Withina90-minuteclass,itisunlikelyallstudentswillachieveacompletedstory.Thisisnotaconcernifthewritingprogramisongoing,asstudentsmayreturntothenextsessionwiththeirfinishedfirstdrafts.Itisimportant,however,forstudentstosharetheirstorieswithothergroupmembers,togivefeedback,andevenspeculateonpossiblestoryendings.Allow15-20minutesforthis.Aspartofthereflectiveprocess,studentsreceiveinsightintothedevelopmentalprocessofcreativewriting,improveconfidencethroughideasharing,andunderstandthateveryonereadsfromdifferentperspectives.

POST-TASK

Writethelogline(plotsummary)ofapopularmovie/bookstoryontheboard,e.g.,‘Awomanandhercrewbattlealiensaboardtheirshipindeepspace’or,‘AnalienfindsitselfleftbehindonEarthandbefriendsayoungboywhohelpshimtoreturn.’Havestudentssummarisetheirownplotsinoneortwosentences.Askthemtowritethisontheboard.Studentscanreturntotheirgroupsanddiscusswhichstoriesmightinterestthemmost.

FOLLOW-UP

Withinanongoingwritingprogram,focuscanshifttootheraspectsofstorytelling,suchasdialogue,setting,messages,andcharacters,allofwhichwillservetofurtherenrichstudents’narratives.

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Ifstudentsarecomfortablewithsharingtheircompletedstorieswithawideraudience,itisworthconsideringFacebookorGoogleSites(closedgroup)asaneasy-to-usepublishingplatform.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SimonRoweteachesacademicandcreativewritingatKwanseiGakuinUniversityinJapan.HeisauthoroftheshortfictioncollectionGoodNightPapa:ShortStoriesfromJapanandElsewhere(AtlasJones&Co.,2017).

REFERENCES

Booker,C.(2004).Thesevenbasicplots:Whywetellstories.London:Continuum.